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I have Servo-tronic, personally I think its a waste. I had to get it because all the cars at the dealership had already as an option. I think the steering is much more vague with Servo-tronic, not nearly as precise. The big advantage of Servo-tronic is for low speed maneuvering for parallel parking etc. it requires less effort to turn the wheel (big deal).

In the end boils down to preference, if your prefer sharper handling - forget servotronic, if you prefer easier maneuvering at low speeds get servotronic.

Servotronic is great. At low speeds, in parking situation, makes the turning effort so much better. On the mountain twisties, the servo assist declines and there is very nice feedback through the steering wheel with excellent road feel.

lol well uh, i dunno if u guys realized, but yea I already have an X3, but rather just curious as to how it'd feel if i had Servotronic. And is it just me, but I personally think that the X3's standard steering is on the numb side..........its not bad, but am I the only one pining for more feedback?

Exactly the point. Servotronic gives better feel for the raod at higher speeds than the standard power steering.

I agree - I had this feature on the Audi S4 Avant I traded in for our X3 and went out of my way to get it again. The ability to combine excellent road steering sensitivity with ease of handling in a parking lot at low speeds is a very welcome development in my books.

FWIW - I am an instructor for High Performance Driver Events (BMW, PCA, and Audi Clubs)and did 18 track events with the 2004 Audi S4 Avant that had this feature and was very impressed with the handling capabilities it demonstrated as the driving conditions got far more demanding than anything you will ever experience on public roads. The faster you go, the better the steering sensitivity gets.

While I am not taking our X3 out to the track (I have another car for that), I am so far very happy with how BMW has implemented this feature into our cars and would order it again in a heartbeat.

The heavy steering is my biggest complaint with the X3. I drove my old C280 around the block the other day and was just stunned at how light it turns -- and I used to think it was heavy. If Servotronic mitigates this it's a winner in my book.

As I started off today in my X3 loaner, I was immediately struck by how much the steering felt so dead and laden. I kept thinking, something is wrong. Too little air in the tires, low on steering fluid?

Then I figured it out. No Servotronic! I didn't realize what a difference the Servotronic Steering option made. I cannot wait to get my Servotronic back again.

Our 04 X3 doesn't have the servotronic and our 07 X3 has the servotronic. The difference is significant. The servotronic steering is very light at slow speeds it is also slightly lighter and more sensitive on the highway. My preference is to NOT order the servotronic but my wife would say just the opposite. If I were buying an X3 for the first time then driving cars with and without this option would be a good idea. I think this option changes the feel of the car a lot - much more than the sport versus non-sport. Again, partly because it is an SUV I prefer the more teutonic feel of the standard configuration - the turn-in is plenty quick and it feels like it tracks better on the highway - the later is very likely purely psychological.

Hi, Ive just bought an E39 535i sport with servotronic steering option, had a number of E39's, 540, 523, etc, dont rate this option as worth while, when your driving on slower roads for a while, then onto higher speed motorway speeds, 85 mph +, it seems to take a while to adapt, giving you very woolley steering for a time, then tightens up!, not worth having over standard set up. Donnie